Welcome to Term 2! We are only 4 days in and it feels like we the holidays were months ago... but that's the joy of teaching isn't it? When you're on, you're on...

This week I have started new topics with all of my stage 4 and 5 classes. Year 7 have just started 'Cells & Classification', Year 8 'Elements & Compounds', Year 9 'Being Connected' and in Year 10 we are doing 'Genes & Evolution'. In order to try to boost engagement and interest in these topics, this week I have introduced a few new ideas in order to try to 'catch' them.

With my Year 8s, we started off the topic by looking at the structure of the atom and the history behind our current understanding of the different parts and where they are located. In order to try to make this history part a little bit more exciting, I created an Instagram template using Google Drawings that the students then used to create a post as if they were one of the scientists involved in the development of the atomic structure. They had to find an image that was appropriate as well as write a caption and add some clever hashtags. They submitted them today and the results were great!!

​Here are a few examples of them...

Here is the link to the Google Drawing template if you would like to use it with your classes: Instagram template

I am really keen to give some PBL a try this year, so I decided to try to it out with my Year 10s this term. They are a pretty good class with some very strong students but the best part is that a good chunk of them have a real interest in Science. This is also the first time I've taught boys in a while, so I wanted something that was going to appeal to them as some of them aren't as 'into it' as the girls. So... enter our superheroes project.

Here is the project introduction that I created for them...

To say that they were excited was an understatement... even the girls were excited about creating their superhero. They spent their first lesson researching a male and female superhero to find out a range of different traits. As we move through the unit they will use the traits of their original superheroes to carry out Punnett squares to see what traits their offspring will have. They will then create a model of their superhero's DNA and mutate it to represent the factor that causes most superhero's super powers! At the end of the project they will present their superhero in anyway that they wish - some ideas I have floated with them include a 'toy box', a set of trading cards or a trailer for a movie that their superhero may star in.

I'm really excited to see how this project unfolds and will definitely be sharing more about it as we progress.

I'm still working on jazzing up 7 and 9 as we need to meet some outcomes that are on the next assessment task fairly quickly, but I have a few ideas that I'd like to try - I just need to tweak them a little.

Lastly... Year 11... they completed their first formal assessment task in the last week of Term 1, so our first lesson this term involved us going through it. I also asked them to complete a reflection on their preparation, how they feel about their performance and what we could do in the future to improve. Most students took the reflection seriously, however, not all of them which was a bit disappointing. Since that lesson though, I have seen a huge increase in their involvement in class discussions and the effort they are putting in to their work. It is early days, but hopefully it continues!!

It was also nice to read an answer to the question 'How can I help prepare you for the next assessment task' from one student that said 'The way you prepared us for the task was great. I just didn't use it to my advantage and realise this now.' It's always nice to see that the students value the work that you put in and can see that it's a two-way street!

The biggest thing that we noticed about the task was that the students are struggling with meeting the Board of Studies verbs. In order to try to combat this I have created some memes that I'll be printing and displaying in our room to try to get them thinking about them differently. I love creating memes and it really can sometimes be difficult to get the wording right to make sure that the meme you create still follows the same line as the many millions of other memes that are similar online!

Most people that know me know that I am an extremely passionate Bon Jovi fan. I have seen the band live 24 times in three countries. I love when there are moments where I can use a quote from Jon Bon Jovi to help get my thoughts across and this one is perfect for this blog post.

This quote would have gone quite nicely in my last blog post on passion, but I also believe that it fits perfectly with the second piece of the PIRATE philosophy puzzle 'Immersion'.

In this section of his book, Dave Burgess talks about fully diving in to whatever it is you are doing, 'to completely give yourself up to the moment and fully "be" with your students.' There are so many times when we could just put on a video and let it run for half a period without taking the time to get into it yourself, stop at various times and ask questions, make sure the students are actually paying attention instead of falling asleep on the desk. Even though you are still showing a video, you are immersing yourself in the content of the video as well to show your students that the reason for watching it isn't just that you don't really feel like doing much else that lesson.

As Dave says, 'students can feel it when you are truly present' and I think we can all agree with this. I had a Biology student comment at parent-teacher night recently that I get 'so into it' in class and she said that she really enjoys that. She said that if I didn't show as much enthusiasm as I did, she probably wouldn't be so interested in the content. I'm not adding this to toot my own horn, but I do try to make sure that I throw myself all in when I can.

This year has been a roller coaster ride for me. I have had two grandparents pass away and I got married, so my mind has been all over the place for most of the year. I will admit, being able to just throw myself into something crazy in the classroom has helped me get through some pretty tough days. Returning to school after missing time off for one thing or another also shows that you are doing the right thing in the classroom when your students email you to say they're missing having you in class or that, even though they have another science teacher covering the content with them - it's just not the same!

My Stage 6 classes are the ones that I find I immerse myself in more as I believe that my input is going to be what helps them get through two very full on years and keep them engaged and motivated in my classroom. I also enjoy being crazy with my Year 7 class as they are still at that cute, we don't think you're weird stage! I will admit that I have struggled this year to truly immerse myself with my Year 9 class - they're at that 'too cool for school' age and linking back to the previous post, the content isn't really my 'passion'... but I have tried and looking back over the last 3 and half terms I have thought of how I will do things differently next year!

Dave states that he is a firm believer in structure and having plans for what you wish to address in the classroom, but he also says that it's ok to 'let it go' and run with the 'teachable moment'. If you stick to the plan too often and don't let your students explore when they are truly engaged in a particular area of the curriculum you are going to miss that opportunity to delve into something valuable. Even if this means losing some 'precious' time preparing for standardised tests, etc we need to make these sacrifices to do our job - to teach our kids! Sometimes we need to just put the 'formalised' stuff aside and just 'be' with our students.

My mission for myself (and for anyone reading this post!) is to try to think of how I (and you) can completely immerse myself into at least one lesson in the next week. For us Aussies, we are getting to that time of the year where we are being pushed by the demands of reports and faced with students who are already in holiday mode - but just think, by totally immersing yourself into one lesson you could see a completely different side of your students and engage them in a way that you might not have thought possible during Term 4! Hopefully this will give you some ideas of how you can immerse yourself into more areas of your teaching in 2015!!